A VERY COLLECTABLE AND UNIQUE PIECE FOR YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN COLLECTION THAT WILL SURELY INCREASE IN VALUE!

Southwest Native American Art

Southwest Indian art is probably the most distinctive and certainly the best-known of Native American artistic traditions, both because the southwestern tribes were highly settled peoples for whom things like twelve-foot high looms were practical, and because most southwestern tribes have remained in or at least near their ancestral lands, suffering less interruption of their tribal traditions than the eastern tribes. Southwest Indian designs are instantly recognizable and have saturated the American mainstream, their characteristic geometric patterns visible everywhere from cowboy hats to Arizona's state flag; sanitized Kokopelli silhouettes festoon lawns in New Mexico the way gnomes in pointy hats do in Pennsylvania. But Southwestern Indian art forms have not only influenced the popular culture of the region at large, they also remain as thriving, unbroken artistic traditions of the native people who first created them. Arts and crafts Southwest Indian artists are best known for include the kachina dolls of the Hopi and sandpaintings of the Navajo; beautiful pottery, particularly by Pueblo Indian artists; woven blankets and rugs, particularly by the Navajos; and many different styles of fine basketry and jewelry, particularly in silver and turquoise.

Artist's Statement

Just as the planets turn in rhythm, art is the expression of life. Art is powerful and fills our lives with beauty and expression. Art is my calling! I focus on the power of color and form relationships in my work. I like my images to feel bold and alive, and I do this through the expression of feeling colors that create exciting and vibrant statements. I love to create deep emotion, feeling and atmosphere in all my paintings. Thank you for your interest in my work!

Biography

Cortez was born in Roswell, New Mexico in 1951 and has been a noted artist all of his life. His work is mostly representative of abstract form in terms of color, rendering and composition. His work is noted for his natural, spiritual portrayal of Native American and Southwestern genres.